Troubleshooting: Broadcom NetXtreme™ Ethernet Controller User's Guide

This chapter provides the following information:

Hardware Diagnostics

Checking Port LEDs

Troubleshooting Checklist

Checking if Proper Drivers are Loaded

Running Cable Diagnostics

Testing Network Connectivity

Software Problems and Solutions

Hardware Diagnostics

Loopback diagnostic tests are available for testing the adapter hardware under Windows. These tests provide access to the adapter's internal/external diagnostics, where packet information is transmitted across the physical link. (See Diagnostics in the Broadcom Advanced Server Control Suite chapter).

Checking Port LEDs

See the Physical Description section in the introduction for troubleshooting LED states.

Troubleshooting Checklist

The following checklist provides recommended actions to take to resolve problems installing the NetXtreme™ Ethernet Adapter or running it in your system.

Inspect all cables and connections. Verify that the cable connections at the NetXtreme™ Ethernet Adapter and the switch are attached properly.
Check the configuration settings and change them if they are in conflict with another device.
Make sure that your system is using the latest BIOS.

Checking if Proper Drivers are Loaded

The following section describes how to check if the proper drivers are loaded for Windows and Linux™.

Windows

The Broadcom Advanced Control Suite, Vital Sign screen allows you to view vital adapter information, network status, and network connectivity. Active adapters are listed.

From the Vital Sign screen, select the Broadcom adapter to be tested.
Click Refresh to display the driver status of the selected adapter.

NOTE: Information for non-Broadcom adapters is less comprehensive than information listed for Broadcom adapters.

Running Cable Diagnostics

Cable diagnostics are run from the Broadcom Advanced Control Suite. See Broadcom Advanced Control Suite for setup and initialization.

NOTE: This test is designed to work for a 1-gigabit copper link (1000BASE-T) only.

Testing Network Connectivity

The following section describes how to test network connectivity for Windows, NetWare®, and Linux™.

Windows

Use the ping command to determine if network connectivity is working.

Select Run from the Windows Control Panel, this displays the Run command window.
Type cmd (Windows 2000 and Windows XP) or type command (Windows 98) and click OK.
Type ipconfig /all to display the command window.
Type ping <IP address> from the command line, then press Enter. This displays the network connectivity information.
Additional Network Tests are available via the Broadcom Advanced Control Suite.

Software Problems and Solutions

This section provides a list of known software problems and solutions for the operating systems below.

The following table lists known problems and solutions:

Problem: Microsoft Remote Installation Service (RIS) installation fails for both Windows 2000 and Windows XP.

Solution: Refer to Microsoft's Article Q246184,How to Add Third-Party OEM
Network Adapters to RIS Installations.

In the .inf file that is to be placed in the RemoteInstall\Setup\Language\Images\Dir_Name\i386 folder, remove NTx86.5.1 in two lines (see the following example).

Original:

[Manufacturer]
%V_BCM% = BROADCOM, NTx86.5.1

[ControlFlags]
ExcludeFromSelect = *

[BROADCOM.NTx86.5.1]

Revised:

[Manufacturer]
%V_BCM% = BROADCOM

[ControlFlags]
ExcludeFromSelect = *

[BROADCOM]

Only use the .inf file provided by the vendor for this purpose.

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